Classic & Vintage - help me date my Raleigh Sprite

Hi bike nutz:

Last night I scored a '56 Raleigh Sports (mens) and a ladies Sprite 5-speed. Any ideas on dating the Sprite or history of production etc would be great!

Thanks a load,
-m

You can look at the retroraleigh's sprite page. http://retroraleighs.com/sprite.html

Sheldon Brown has many links to Raleigh info.
Date of manufacture is usually stamped on the bb spindle.

Check the back of the seat tube for the serial also. Mine was there.

Take her to a nice restaurant, order a good bottle of wine, and be a gentleman when you take her home.

(sorry, couldn't resist. The title of the thread made me look and I had to post a smarta*s comment. I'll leave now)

I can't find any numbers anywhere (except for the patent #'s on the luggage rack). Sheldon's site doesn't go into detail (year by year etc). He jumps from 1967 to 1976. Any other ideas?

Thanks to all,
-m

If you think the derailleur is original, you can see if you can find date codes. Can work with some other components such as brakes etc. as well.

vintage-trek.com is a good source for date codes for various components.

Post some pics; the style of decal will go a long way to offer some clues as to the age of your Sprite.

Neal

Take her to a nice restaurant, order a good bottle of wine, and be a gentleman when you take her home.

(sorry, couldn't resist. The title of the thread made me look and I had to post a smarta*s comment. I'll leave now)

You beat me to it. :)

If you think the derailleur is original, you can see if you can find date codes. Can work with some other components such as brakes etc. as well.

vintage-trek.com is a good source for date codes for various components.

Thanks for that link. It lead me to an encrypted date code (I think) on the underside of the leather Brooks saddle, but as it also said, the "key" to these codes is lost(?) As for the derailleur, it is a Huret "Allvit" and has no numbers (that I could find anyway).

After 4 or five hours of surfing and looking at photos of Sprites, I'm thinking it might be from around 1969...

Thank,
-m

bb spindle

bb spindle

I appreciate your help with this, but I really can't see any numbers on the BB or the spindle. Could the numbers be hiding under the kickstand bracket? It has one of those Swedish double-stands.

-m

You have to take the bottom bracket apart and pull the spindle out.
The date of manufacture is stamped on the center of the spindle.

..nice place to put it...easy to get at

Thanks for your help
-m

Thanks for that link. It lead me to an encrypted date code (I think) on the underside of the leather Brooks saddle, but as it also said, the "key" to these codes is lost(?) As for the derailleur, it is a Huret "Allvit" and has no numbers (that I could find anyway).

After 4 or five hours of surfing and looking at photos of Sprites, I'm thinking it might be from around 1969...

Thank,
-m
My 1969 Sprite had an S5 internal hub, not a derailler.

In the '69 catalog (sheldon's site) it says the Sprite was offered with either internal or derailleur 5-speed. But, the colors aren't right for mine, so I'll continue looking. Some of the catalogs don't show the Sprite model.

-m

What color is yours? The 1970 catalog notes that the 5-speed men's Sprite came only in coffee brown: http://www.jaysmarine.com/TH_Raleigh_Cat_70_4.html.

Neal

I have a '69 5 speed deraileur Sprite. It looks much like the one in the '70 cat but has a Brooks mattress saddle, no rear rack and no chain guard. Oh, and it's white.
Fun bike to ride.

I have a '69 5 speed deraileur Sprite. It looks much like the one in the '70 cat but has a Brooks mattress saddle, no rear rack and no chain guard. Oh, and it's white.
Fun bike to ride.

I just looked in the '69 catalog, and white wasn't offered...(?)

What color is yours? The 1970 catalog notes that the 5-speed men's Sprite came only in coffee brown: http://www.jaysmarine.com/TH_Raleigh_Cat_70_4.html.

Neal

Yes, that's it. Mine is a women's and is coffee color with Brooks B72 and rack etc.
Thanks alot!
-m

Love those old catalogs!
The photography, the copy, the "themes", the wardrobe.
Seen the old Raleigh cats on Sheldon's site (http://retroraleighs.com/#catalogues) but those are mostly edited to only show some road and tour bikes.

This complete 1970 book is great––"New England Bike Dates"! I'm soooo jealous of those dudes right now.

Plus that Chopper centerfold is priceless.
http://www.jaysmarine.com/TH_Raleigh_Cat_70_8n9.html

Yes, that's it. Mine is a women's and is coffee color with Brooks B72 and rack etc.
Thanks alot!
-m


ooops....I may have spoke too soon. It says that this ladies model in brown should be a 23" and mine is a 21"...

Maybe its a later year? Are any more complete catalogs like this available?

Thanks,
-m

If you have a Sturmey internal 5 speed hub, a date should be stamped on it. First two numbers are the year and the second set from 1 to 12 is the month. Example: 56 7 (November 1956)